Abstract

Ferromagneticthin films with an extremely smooth surface morphology can be epitaxially grown on Si(111) at room temperature by facing target direct-current sputtering. The epitaxial relationship is with . By the application of the extinction rule of x-ray diffraction, the generated was confirmed to possess a structure and not a one. The film showed a saturation magnetization value of , which was slightly lower than that of bulk . It was observed that the magnetization easy axis was along the direction in the film plane.

Received 08 March 2005Accepted 23 May 2005Published online 24 June 2005

Acknowledgments:

The SEM observation and the XRD measurement were conducted using the equipment at the Center of Advanced Instrumental Analysis, Kyushu University. This work was supported by the Asahi Glass Foundation.